Al Green

Definitive? Not really -- adding six tracks to the '95 re-issue of his first Greatest Hits (which had already added five key cuts from '77's Greatest Hits, Vol. 2) and changing the sequence feels more like plain old label chicanery. And including non-hits like "Back Up Train" (from his little-known '68 debut) is not only odd, but breaks up an otherwise hypnotizing flow. Still, why quibble? It's amazing to hear how seamlessly "I Can't Stop" and "Perfect to Me" (recorded in '03 and '05, respectively) fit in next to the '70s material, and thousands of people born since then probably owe their existence to these slinky grooves and that undeniable croon.